Trnava Project

We celebrated the 20^th anniversary of Velvet Revolution in 2009. I could notice different opinions in my surroundings about living conditions existing during the period before revolution. I belong to a generation which does not have a chance to compare the conditions before the revolution and now. I can get to know from older people what it was like before.

My guest is a teacher who is going to tell us how she perceives the life at the time before the revolution and now.

When we turn back in time, what positives of that period influenced your life directly?

The biggest positive for me was the social support. After the graduation I got a possibility to teach at a basic school. Regarding the family life, I and my husband got a new flat quite quickly. Marriage loans and good social benefits were provided after the birth of each child. With a sense of modesty, we started our independent life more easily than the young people do now. So, for me the most positive things of that period were the certainty of work and the certainty of housing.

Compared to these days, what things were unsatisfactory for you and you would never turn them back?

At present, life seems to me more comfortable for a person who has a permanent job with a good income. Based on this fact, I can go to a shop whenever I want and buy what I need. I can buy some fresh products there. There is no need to stand in long queues in shops. There are lots of fruits and vegetables in the shops. We did not have a chance to buy them at that time. We could buy some just before Christmas time. However, we had to wait for them in long queues.

Further, I am really glad that we have a lot of possibilities to visit theatre performances from which we can choose. So, we can live in a more cultural way. A lot of possibilities of alternative theatres came up. We can enjoy art from the other west countries. Nowadays, we have got chances to confront also kinds of art that were stagnating a little bit in our country in the past. Many works of art were hidden in safes before, but now it goes forwards. There was period of the so-called ‘socialist realism’ in our country.                                                                          

When I am walking in the streets I think, they are getting better regarding to facades of buildings, pavements and roads. The construction of roads takes a long time, because it all depends on money, of course. However, the cities have changed a lot. When I look at pictures of the cities from that time and compare them to their present look, I can say they are more colourful, neater, more cultural and exhibition-like than before.

If you could go back in time to the period before the revolution, which thing, which is available now, would you miss most?

I would miss the travelling the most. As it is written in news papers or magazines, during that period only selected people could travel abroad. It is true. We could only travel to the Eastern European countries. I went abroad to do volunteer work several times. So, I travelled a little bit. Fortunately, each person can travel after the revolution if he/she has enough money for this ‘superstructural’ activity. Thus, I could travel with my family to countries which I could only have dreamed about. A possibility to travel abroad is a big benefit of this time for me.

Were you or somebody from your neighbourhood under investigation at that time?

No, I was not confronted with any investigation directly. However, my teacher from the college where I studied told me that secret police men had asked him some questions about me. The reason for this interest was that my grandfather´s brother left to the USA after 1948. They verified if our family was credible or if we have some connections to the West. However, I do not have any direct experience with the interrogation on this task. They questioned other people about the credibility of our family. So, it was like that.

What could you criticize about the regime before the revolution?

I think that the chicane from our government was demonstrated mainly in the educational system. We could get only information which was censored by governmental institutions. Mr. Lenin and Mr. Stalin and their philosophy and the Soviet Union were a trendsetting to us. I do not want to say the USA model is the best one in the world. However, we did not have any possibility to get true information due to the censorship. Nowadays, I learn from documentary movies how they lied to us in an incredible way. They used demagogy against common people who did not have a chance to go abroad and see the way of life in other countries. They taught us as small children that all the capitalistic things are bad and the socialism is good by principle. It was a totally black-and-white theory. I think this was the worst sine of theirs. It is only nowadays that I can fully understand how they lied to us about many things.

Many people used to say they were on squares and rang with keys. Did you do the same thing in the days of November 1989?

No, I did not. I was at home on maternity leave with my two-year-old daughter in that time. I was just watching TV as far as there were broadcasts from streets and squares. At the beginning, the information flow was limited and distorted. I watched what was going on.

What did you think about it and what did you feel?

I am a prudent type of person. I have to tell I was afraid of the next steps. I was afraid that the situation could change for the worse. Fortunately, there were no casualties during Velvet revolution and I was really glad of that.

KT